DOGARA, EKWEREMADU URGE THE HOUSE FOR TIMELY SUBMISSION OF BUDGET

The Deputy Sen­ate President, Ike Ekweremadu and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, have ad­vocated timely submis­sion of budget as antidote to solving the problems associated with the docu­ment. While Ekweremadu pointed out that timely presentation of budget by the executive arm of government is critical to budgetary reforms in the country, Dogara called for the review
of legal frame­work to ensure that the annual budget is submit­ted on time. They spoke at the col­loquium on budgetary reforms with the theme: ‘Budget as a Tool for Ac­celerated Economic De­velopment in Nigeria’.
Ekweremadu noted that the early submission of budget ensures transpar­ency, adding that late sub­mission was detrimental to the country’s push for economic growth and rapid development. Dogara, who called for the amendment of Section 82 of the Constitution to reduce the time the previ­ous year’s budget will con­tinue to run in the event that the Appropriation Act is not passed at the beginning of the Finan­cial year from six months to three months, pointed out that the constitution empowers the National Assembly to tinker with the estimates sent to it by the executive. He said: “Recent events have brought to the fore the extent of the powers of the National Assembly with respect to the bud­geting process.